Here are the Top 10 political stories from South Florida in 2024

All eyes were on South Florida this year, due in no small part to a certain New York-to-Palm Beach transplant mounting a comeback campaign (who may or may not make this list — wink-wink).

Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach again counties drew state and national headlines for the achievements — and debacles — of public officials and the communities they served.

Paring the most impactful stories to a definitive “Top 10” list was a tall task and hardly scientific. Many attention-grabbers failed to make the cut, from more serious stories like the Copa América chaos and outrage among South Florida’s Haitian community over pet-eating accusations to sillier fare like Palm Beach resident Eric Trump becoming Special Deputy Sheriff and Broward Judge Gary Farmer getting reassigned for unleashing a slew of vulgar comments from the bench.

We think you’ll agree that what made the cut spotlights the especially high (and low) points of the year.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

10. Cuba’s tour of Miami’s airport sparks bipartisan outrage, congressional inquiry

Cuba is the Sunshine State’s closest international neighbor, but as anyone from South Florida can tell you, they’re not on the best of terms.

Which is why many were infuriated in May by revelations that members of Cuba’s socialist regime received a TSA-led tour of Miami International Airport (MIA) security facilities — and that Miami-Dade County officials were kept in the dark about it.

Elected leaders from both sides of the aisle, including Democratic Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Republican Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, expressed outrage over the incident, which Transportation Security Administration officials said was routine and safe.

Some didn’t buy that explanation and quickly announced a pending investigation and legislation to prevent a repeat of the debacle.

A congressional hearing followed in July. TSA officials again asserted that the MIA tour was ordinary and the sixth by Cuban officials since 2011, one of which occurred during Donald Trump’s administration. They acknowledged, however, that the agency could have better notified the hub and local officials.

Some leaders remained dissatisfied with that explanation. U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee pointed to reports of a suspected Chinese Spy base near Cuba’s second-largest city. U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez, a fellow Republican and Miami-Dade’s immediate past Mayor, questioned the TSA’s vetting process, noting that the agency relies on information provided by Cuba’s government to screen Cuban visitors.

Giménez and several other Florida pols — including Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Democratic U.S. Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz — filed legislation to block the TSA from granting security access to officials from countries on the national State Sponsor of Terrorism list, prompting many to ask how that wasn’t already a thing.

9. Court battle over Seminole Gaming Compact ends after Joe Biden admin intervenes

Florida’s future in the gambling industry is brighter than ever.

In October, the Broward-based Seminole Tribe settled a lengthy legal dispute with a group of gambling businesses over whether the Tribe should enjoy exclusive rights to online sports betting in Florida.

Under the agreement, the Tribe will offer Jai Alai wagering on its Hard Rock Bets app. In turn, former plaintiff West Flagler Associates, which owns World Jai Alai League operations in Coral Springs and Bonita Springs, agreed to end its litigation.

Seminole Gaming CEO Jim Allen called the deal a “win-win” for both parties. But it didn’t come easy.

In July 2021, one month after the U.S. Department of the Interior approved Florida and the Tribe’s Gaming Compact to expand gambling in the state, West Flagler sued to block the arrangement, contending that the deal’s online sports betting piece violated federal laws over Indian gaming.

That triggered years of litigation that snaked its way up through Florida’s court system, ultimately reaching Florida Supreme Court, which cited a technical issue in ruling against West Flagler and its co-plaintiffs in March.

Their lone remaining hope, a U.S. Supreme Court hearing, grew less likely in May, when the Biden administration asked the court to reject the case, citing the plaintiff’s “flawed” arguments and Florida’s “capricious” regulatory powers. The court obliged a month later.

State economic forecasters estimate revenue sharing through Seminole’s sports betting operation will yield Florida $4.4 billion through 2030.

8. ‘Moe Saunders’ disrupts House District 106 race

Democrat Joe Saunders had a pretty straightforward challenge ahead of him when he filed last year to run against Republican incumbent state Rep. Fabián Basabe in Miami-Dade’s House District 106.

It remained that way until June, when a no-party candidate from St. Johns County named Maureen Saunders Scott entered the race. Her name quickly prompted questions about a potential “ghost candidate” scheme.

Things grew stranger still when, later that month, Scott changed her name on the ballot to “Moe Saunders.”

Coincidence? Hardly.

Scott turned out to be Saunders’ estranged aunt and was mounting what was essentially a spite campaign against her nephew, whom she accused of being culpable in hiding alleged family misdeeds that predated his birth.

Her online activity showed she interacted with Basabe to offer dirt on her nephew. Then she revealed in court, after Saunders sued to remove her from the ballot, that she’d spoken by phone with both Basabe and his GOP Primary challenger.

Basabe and Scott denied any collusion or exchange of funds.

The court case ended with Scott agreeing to run as “Mo Saunders Scott” in the closely watched race, which Basabe won with 51% of the vote.

Saunders took 47% of the vote, while his aunt captured the remaining 2%. He has since deactivated his X account, where Scott harassed him ad nauseam before and after Election Day.

7. Jeffrey Epstein’s grand jury records unsealed

Nineteen years after Palm Beach County police first began investigating Jeffrey Epstein for hiring and sexually assaulting underage girls, new details about the case — and local authorities’ laxness in pursuing charges — finally came to light in 2024.

That’s thanks in large part to renewed reporting by Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald. It’s also the result of legislation by Boca Raton Democratic state Sen. Tina Polsky and Highland Beach Republican state Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman that lawmakers unanimously approved and Gov. Ron DeSantis swiftly signed in February.

The narrowly tailored measure allowed for testimony given to a grand jury in 2008 about Epstein’s predatory activities to be made public. It reignited questions of why then-Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer referred Epstein’s case to a grand jury rather than pursuing charges himself, a move that ensured the case’s details would be shielded from the public without legislative action.

Epstein served just 13 months in a private prison wing due to his initial arrest. He was again arrested in July 2019 and indicted by another grand jury for bringing “dozens” of other minors to his mansion for sexual encounters in the years after.

He died of an apparent suicide while awaiting trial.

The frequently infuriating transcripts from the 2008 case confirmed reported claims that prosecutors accused Epstein’s underage victims of prostitution and suggested they consented to being touched — something not legally possible by statutory rape standards.

Twelve of Epstein’s accusers are suing the FBI, alleging the agency failed to protect them despite tips and complaints it received about his misdeeds between 1996 and 2006.

6. Policing again under scrutiny after high-profile traffic stop, court settlement

Police misbehavior is an evergreen issue in South Florida, but it attracted extra attention in September after the heavy-handed roadside detainment of Miami Dolphin player Tyreek Hill outside the team’s home stadium.

No stranger to legal issues, Hill later acknowledged he could have been more cooperative with the Miami-Dade Police officers who dragged him out of his car after he rolled his window up during the stop.

But to many watching the video, it was a high-profile example of an everyday issue in a state and area where cops have faced progressively less accountability due to laws passed in Tallahassee.

The GOP-dominated Legislature this year passed HB 601, which effectively neutered many local police oversight boards tasked with investigating officer misconduct. Not long after, Miami shut down its Civilian Investigative Panel, citing the new law.

Another law passed last Session enables police to create a 25-foot no-go zone around themselves and arrest anyone who enters it after receiving a warning. A similar proposal drew jeers in 2021 from several Miami-Dade Commission members, who argued it would make recording police more difficult.

The changes came as a new study in Journal of Criminal Justice found that Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach led the state as “hot spots” for police abuses. Combined, the tri-county area accounts for 27% of the problem in Florida.

It’s proven costly for localities — or, at least, their taxpayers. Early this month, Fort Lauderdale agreed to pay nearly $2 million to a woman city police tear-gassed and shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.

Ironically, the incident occurred during a 2020 protest against police brutality following the killing of George Floyd.

5. Jared Moskowitz’s stock continues to rise

Jared Moskowitz’s deftness on the mic and cross-aisle efforts earned him a spot on our 2023 Top 10 list too. He ranks even higher this year for staying on message and calling out neglect and hypocrisy where he saw it, all while redoubling his efforts to steer America’s polarized politics to a middle ground.

He teamed up with several fellow Florida lawmakers on bipartisan legislation to cap student loan interest rates, establish national standards for parental notifications during school emergencies and numerous measures supporting Israel.

Still, he relished opportunities to zing his GOP colleagues when he deemed it appropriate, including a cheeky challenge in August calling on Oversight Chair James Comer to follow through on a threat to impeach Biden.

After the first assassination attempt against Trump in July, however, Moskowitz called for national unity and a probe of the “fundamental breakdown by law enforcement” that allowed the shooting to happen. Then he and Matt Gaetz collaborated on a bill to honor the man killed by a stray bullet in the attack.

House Speaker Mike Johnson later appointed Moskowitz to a Special Committee tasked with investigating the case.

During hurricane season, Moskowitz — the former Director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management — pitched a stream of ideas aimed at insulating Floridians from physical and financial harm, from floating plans to spread property insurance risks nationally and clear $8 billion in loans for storm-hit small businesses to others designed to replenishing the federal government’s depleted emergency relief coffers.

Then shortly after Moskowitz won re-election, police foiled a potential plot against his life. Moskowitz again called for more attention to be paid to security issues around elected officials including Trump, who by then had seen another assassination attempt.

With Trump returning to the White House, Moskowitz was the first Democrat to join the congressional DOGE Caucus aimed at cutting government waste. Rumors this month arose that Trump was eyeing him to head up the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Moskowitz demurred, writing online that while he appreciated the “speculation,” he planned to stay in Congress.

What happens from here remains to be seen, but one thing’s guaranteed: Moskowitz will keep it interesting.

4. Miami corruption cases fizzle out

Corruption at Miami City Hall topped our list of the biggest political stories from South Florida last year. Now many of those cases have concluded, with limited damage to the allegedly offending officials.

Joe Carollo was found liable in June 2023 for violating the First Amendment rights of local businessmen, who won a judgment of $63.5 million in damages.

But today, Carollo still has his City Commission seat and his $2.5 million Coconut Grove home, and he may receive back pay for garnished government wages after a judge determined that as his household’s sole breadwinner, he is protected under Florida’s “head of family” and homestead exemption statutes.

Last month, prosecutors dropped a case against former Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla, whom DeSantis removed from office in September 2023 after his arrest on bribery, money laundering and criminal conspiracy charges.

The Broward State Attorney’s Office cited “significant weaknesses in the case,” including “inconsistent” witness testimonies and critical details that “cannot be supported by the evidence.”

Now Díaz de la Portilla is seeking $17,700 in back pay, and an investigator from the case may face criminal contempt charges.

Two state ethics investigations into Miami Mayor Francis Suarez were also dropped in 2024.  Another two remain. One is a federal probe of Suarez’s business relationship with a developer who sought project approval from the city. The other is a county-level examination of his lucrative side jobs.

There’s more. Miami agreed in May to settle a lawsuit over its racially gerrymandered districts, paying $1.6 million in compensatory legal fees and accepting a new map drawn by the plaintiffs.

The move came one month after Commissioners fired City Attorney Victoria Méndez, who supported using taxpayer money to pay off Carollo’s legal fees and provided advice to the city that nearly lost it $56 million in state tax funding.

Méndez was a key figure in a WLRN investigation that found her husband’s real estate firm bought and sold at least 14 homes of elderly residents who were deemed “incapacitated” by a court and had their assets placed under control of a private nonprofit whose former President participated in some of the sales.

But in July, the Florida Municipal Attorneys Association named Mendez “2024 Attorney of the Year.” She took a job as partner at the Shutts & Bowen law firm two months later.

Most of the Miami Commission thought it was an appropriate time to give themselves lifetime pensions and voted to do so in October, triggering widespread indignation. Suarez heard the outcry and issued a rare veto.

Then in November, a Judge sentenced former Miami state Sen. Frank Artiles to just two months behind bars for orchestrating a 2020 “ghost candidate” scheme that successfully supplanted an incumbent Senate Democrat.

He faced up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors sought three years. He got 60 days in jail, a slap on the wrist that he’s now appealing.

3. Marco Rubio’s ascension to Secretary of State

He was on Trump’s shortlist for Vice President but didn’t make the cut, but the President-elect didn’t forget him.

Last month, Trump tapped Rubio to serve as Secretary of State in his coming administration. His confirmation by his U.S. Senate peers is all but a forgone conclusion.

The rise of Rubio, a Miami-born son of Cuban expatriates, from serving as a congressional intern to now being fourth in line to the presidency is historic. He’ll be America’s first Hispanic Secretary of State and the highest-ranking Miami native in a federal government office.

Few can argue the promotion is inappropriate. As a U.S. Senator, he’s been steeped in security matters. He today serves as Vice Chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence and would bring a proactive stance on threats from China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and their allies.

A recent survey found 45% of Americans approve of Rubio for Secretary of State, with just 31% disapproving.

Rubio’s ascension means there will soon be an empty Florida seat in Washington, and DeSantis is responsible for appointing its new occupant. Several names have been floated, including Attorney General Ashley Moody, DeSantis Chief of Staff James Uthmeier and Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

Others rumored to be in the running include Nuñez and former House Speaker José Oliva, either of whom would keep a Cuban American from Miami in the seat.

2. Daniel Perez takes over the House, renovates

Speaking of …

The Florida House last month confirmed Miami Rep. Daniel Perez as Speaker for the 2024-26 term, making him the third Cuban American to lead the chamber in its nearly 180 years.

Perez wasted little time before making the House his own.

Before even taking the gavel, Perez announced he was reshaping the House’s committee apparatus, replacing its long-standing appropriations and education committee structures and creating new panels focused on information technology investments and threat assessments.

He then set to work revamping the chamber’s rules, lifting a blanket prohibition barring House members from flying on private planes, regardless of who owns them.

He also closed a procedural loophole that previously allowed unofficial lobbying to take place in the chamber, increased disclosure requirements for lobbyists and mandated that House members must explicitly request hearings on their bills in writing.

Other changes include eased restrictions on House members’ speech, an overhaul of the House website with customizable member pages, and a new interactive bill format designed to make the document more readable, comprehendible and navigable.

In a brief confirmation speech, Perez said his House would focus more on serving Floridians than corporate and special interest groups. It would also tamp down on government spending, including the Governor’s use of state funds for political messaging.

“Any sort of taxpayer dollars that has ever left the legislature for whatever use will be under scrutiny,” Perez told media members after the speech, vowing to examine state spending “across the board.”

That’s music to Floridians’ ears. Here’s to hoping he follows through.

1. Donald Trump flips Miami-Dade, just misses Palm Beach

Trump became an official Palm Beach resident in October 2019, when he filed a “declaration of domicile” naming his Mar-a-Lago resort as his full-time home.

Last month’s election confirmed that he and his local GOP allies have since remade much of the surrounding area in his image.

For the first time in 36 years, voters in Miami-Dade — Florida’s most populous county and a historically dependable Democratic stronghold — sided with a Republican for President.

It wasn’t even close; Trump trounced Kamala Harris by 11.4 percentage points in the county, a wider margin than George H.W. Bush beat Michael Dukakis there in 1988.

The effect trickled down and spread out. All five of Miami-Dade’s constitutional offices at stake (Sheriff, Clerk, Tax Collector, Property Appraiser and Supervisor of Elections) went to Republicans. No congressional seats changed hands. And the closest state legislative contest in the county, the HD 106 race between Basabe and Saunders, still swung 4 points for the incumbent.

Trump narrowed his gap in deep-blue Broward from losing the county to Joe Biden in 2020 by 29.5 points to trailing Harris by 17. In Palm Beach, Trump shrank his deficit in four years from 13 points to less than 1.

“Political scientists are going to be dissecting this election for a while,” Hialeah state Rep. Alex Rizo, who led the Miami-Dade GOP through Election Day, told Florida Politics last month.

South Florida’s red shift is hardly Trump and the GOP’s accomplishment alone. Democrats helped by depending on faulty polling, ceding ground in recent years through a lack of permanent campaigning and voter outreach and failing to weaponize layup pocketbook issues, like how Florida’s insurance market has crumbled on the GOP’s watch.

The Democratic parties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are hemorrhaging members. Since 2020, state records show they’ve lost a combined 328,581 voters — nearly 40% of the party’s statewide losses.

Meanwhile, Republicans added 55,494 voters in Miami-Dade and lost a comparatively negligible 6,724 voters in Broward and Palm Beach. And the lost Democrats aren’t overwhelmingly going third- or no-party; Miami-Dade added 17,573 independent voters since 2020, while Palm Beach shed 23,651 independents and Broward lost 793.

While bleak, 2024 wasn’t all doom and gloom for Democrats, particularly during the August Primary. Levine Cava walloped six challengers in a technically nonpartisan contest, and several Democratic incumbents kept their state and county seats in all three counties. In Broward, Democrats retook control of the School Board.

But unless South Florida Democrats change tack in meaningful, sustainable ways, they’re headed for even more crimson tides in the years to come, with Trump steering the ship.